Review: Passing Strange By Daniel Waters

Passing Strange By Daniel Waters
June 1st,2010
Summary from Goodreads:

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. A...more Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Karen DeSonne just happens to be an extremely human-like zombie. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” that destroyed their non-life was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.

My thoughts:

“I don’t want to die, I thought. Not again."

I was kind of disappointed when I read that the third installment of the Generation Dead series, Passing Strange, was going to be mainly from Karen DeSonne’s point of view. I loved reading in Phoebe’s point of view, and I really don’t understand why that had to change. However, one of the things I didn’t mind was getting to read and learn more about Karen, who died and came back to life after she committed suicide. I wanted to know why she had done that, and this book answered my question. And what a shocker that was!

That’s all I am going to say about that. Karen DeSonne, who seemed brave and fierce from Phoebe’s point of view, is in reality a troubled and afraid un-dead girl. She is forced to disguise herself as something she is not, a breathing-living human in order to keep her job and the cops from arresting her. Because it is now a crime to be un-dead. And Karen, now more than ever wishes she was alive.

The book is also in the point of view of Peter Martinsburg, zombie hater and murderer. And somehow he ends up interested a particular Wild! Thingz employee, who just happens to be Karen. But Peter doesn’t know that, she introduces herself as Christie Smith, a seemingly normal human girl. She knows she must pretend to like Peter also, in order to save her un-dead friends from being blamed for something they didn’t do and she will stop at nothing to get the proof.

And to those Tak haters, you’ll probably change your mind about that, and those who liked him will get a chance to learn more about him and be able to get a glimpse of his emotional side and learn a little bit more about his previous life.

Even in a different point of view, Daniel Waters, still rocks it! Though I gotta say that I enjoyed reading Kiss of Life and Generation Dead a lot better. I might be biased though, since I loved reading in Phoebe’s point of view much better. I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the next book in this series. But you be the judge of that, if you enjoyed reading the previous Generation Dead series I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one too. But honestly, I thought that this book did not live up to the previous two books.

What's next?: At this moment, nothing has been said about the 4th book in the Generation Dead series. Or even if there is going to be a fourth book. But I will post the details about either possibilities as soon as I find out. But to those of you who haven't read the previous two books: Generation Dead and Kiss of Life. And love zombies and original story plots, you need to add these books to your to-read list!

Age recommendation: I would recommend this book for older readers. Maybe 15 and older.

Review: 3 out of 5

About the Author:

Daniel Waters
Um he's Married and Likes Sandwiches. That's all I found out about him....